DONEGAL WILL BE without full-back Neil McGee for their next two games following his sending off this afternoon against Fermanagh.
McGee was sent off in first half injury time for a strike on Fermanagh forward Ruairí Corrigan in Ballybofey.
While McGee will miss the Ulster semi-final against Monaghan on June 25 at Breffni Park, the Gaoth Dobhair will also have to sit out Donegal’s subsequent game, which will be either the Ulster final or a qualifier.
Picture caption: Neil McGee in the thick of the action in the Donegal goalmouth just before the incident for which he was sent off. Picture by Geraldine Diver
McGee was handed a retrospective one-game ban for an incident with Kerry full-forward Alan Fitzergald during the Allianz League game in Killarney in March having been cited for a category three infraction.
Although he wasn’t sent off at Fitzgerald Stadium, the fact that he was given the retrospective punishment means that today’s dismissal effectively counts as a second sending off for the tough Donegal number three.
“He’ll be a huge loss,” Donegal manager Rory Gallagher conceded.
[adrotate group=”43″]“He’s the best full-back in the country. We’ll look at the evidence and see, but if he’s out he’s out.
“If Neil is gone, he is gone and we will move on.”
McGee had possession of the ball when his forearm appeared to connect with Corrigan.
On the incident, Gallagher said: “I thought I heard a whistle for a free-out and Neil is adamant that he heard a whistle for a free out and then he kind of shrugged his man off.”
Safe to say Neil McGee deserved his red https://t.co/xIV4jNVFAa
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) June 12, 2016
While the Donegal manager suggested that he would carry out a review of the footage, an appeal is highly unlikely given the video evidence that has been doing the rounds this afternoon.
Gallagher was dissatisfied that Fermanagh midfielder Eoin Donnelly wasn’t punished for a challenge on Martin McElhinney.
The Donegal manager said: “All I will say is that there was a decision near our sideline where there was an elbow to the head of one of our players which the referee gave a free for. Why give a free and not act on it?”
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